Colgan Air's tumultuous time before the state's Supreme Court concluded Thursday with an ideal outcome for the company.

The airline won its appeal, as the justices decided the state's Human Rights Commission erred when it found Colgan liable for the 2001 termination of pilot Rao Zahid Khan. Khan argued he was fired because of his Pakistani and Muslim heritage in the wake of 9/11.

"The HRC's decision that the failure to retrain Mr. Khan was discrimination also is not supported by the facts. The facts illustrate that, due to financial constraints, no pilots were being offered retraining opportunities for a three-month period," the opinion says.

"Moreover, the degree of inability showed by Mr. Khan to conduct an airplane in a safe manner was egregious, and retraining would present safety issues." [Link]